Vision based Semi autonomous power line robot

This project is a solution to the real-time problem in Power Systems. A power transmission line system consists of a pair of conductors that carries electric power from a generation end to distribution stations. The line carries several parameters including line current, voltage, and tem

Project Title

Vision based Semi autonomous power line robot

Project Area of Specialization

Electrical/Electronic Engineering

Project Summary

This project is a solution to the real-time problem in Power Systems.

A power transmission line system consists of a pair of conductors that carries electric power from a generation end to distribution stations. The line carries several parameters including line current, voltage, and temperature. Apart from these. The line may be having rust on it or there may be physical damage on it. 

For an efficient and reliable transmission of high voltage electric power, the transmission lines need routine inspections for early fault detection and maintenance. Detection and localization of faults along the transmission equipment are very crucial as it helps the power transmission companies minimize maintenance cost and prevents unwanted power outages.

The current approach in the checking and maintenance of the system is the manual approach where the staff checks the faults and monitors on a manual basis. However, with a growing electrical network, it is not possible to have many human resources. The task of fault localization can be performed using a Technology solution.

This project is a solution to the fault localization in transmission lines using Robots. We are aiming to design and develop a Power line robot for fault localization and physical conditioning check of the transmission line.

The proposed robot is an intelligent machine that is equipped with the state of the art Computer vision technology and helps to find the different parameters of the transmission line.

The robot is capable of traveling over the transmission line from one end to another. The robot is equipped with sensors that sense the line parameters including voltage and current. There is a thermal temperature sensor that will be checking the temperature of the transmission line. The robot is equipped with a Raspberry Pi camera and controller that uses computer vision technology to continuously monitor the transmission line through images and detects the presence of rust on it. The robot is also equipped with an ultrasonic sensor that is used to check if there is physical damage on the line. The onboard controller is connected with the Wi-Fi module and controller which continuously sends the sensor parameters to the remote end that is the IoT-based Thingspeak platform.

The motion of the robot is semi-autonomous. The movement of the robot is controlled on a manual basis as well. There will be a remote end that is connected to the robot through IoT. The robot will be sending the parameters to the remote IoT platform and the motion can be controlled through the IoT platform as well

Project Objectives

1. Design and Development of Physical structure of the power line robot.
2. Design and Develop the motor drive circuitry for the robot.
3. Design and development of Voltage measuring unit for the robot.
4. Design and development of the Current measuring unit for the robot.
5. Design and development of an Ultrasonic sensor module for checking the line condition.
6. Design and develop the rust detection controller using Computer Vision and Raspberry PI.
7. Design and Development of the Remote end using IoT.

Project Implementation Method

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the following methodology has been devised.

  Phase 1: Design and Development of the Physical structure of the power line robot.

In this phase, the mechanical assembly of the prototype robot will be designed and developed. The robot will be a 2 x 1.5 feet sized robot with four wheels and a chained mechanism.

Phase 2: Design and Develop the motor drive circuitry for the robot.

In this phase, an H bridge-based driver circuitry for the robot will be designed. The robot is equipped with 2 motors and each motor will be connected to the main controller through H-bridge. The motion of the motors will be set by the controller.

Phase 3: Design and development of a Voltage measuring unit for the robot.

In the 3rd phase, a line voltage measuring unit will be developed. The voltage sensor will be able to measure the line voltage and send its values to the microcontroller.

Phase 4: Design and development of the Current measuring unit for the robot.

In the 4th phase, a line current measuring unit will be developed. The current sensor will be able to measure the current passing through the line and send its values to the microcontroller.

Phase 5: Design and development of an Ultrasonic sensor module for checking the line condition.

In this phase, a module for checking the physical health of the line will be made. The ultrasonic sensor-based controller unit is designed that will check the shielding status of the line.

Phase 6: Design and develop the rust detection controller using Computer Vision and Raspberry PI.

This phase comprises the design and development of the Rust detection module. Rust cannot be detected using electronic sensors. However, we will be using Computer vision to detect the rust on the line. The Raspberry pi module will be loaded with Machine Learning trained model. The camera attached to the robot will capture the images and the Machine learning model will check if the captured image has rust in it or not.

Phase 7: Design and Development of the Remote end using IoT.

In this phase, all the sensor values and the parameters of the line will be sent to the IoT platform using NodeMCU. The channel will be designed on Thingspeak and all the parameters will be displayed on its GUI.

Phase 8: Integration and Testing

This phase comprises the integration of all the electrical and mechanical modules and the testing of the prototype.

Benefits of the Project

1. Line fault detection
2. Line fault localization
3. Monitoring in remote areas
4. Line Fault Maintenance
5. Rust detection in the transmission line

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The project will have the following technical details:

1-A physical prototype of the power line robot.

The mechanical assembly of the prototype robot will be a 2 x 1.5 feet sized robot with four wheels and a chained mechanism. It will also be having four wheels and two motors. The base will be having housing for the electronic circuits and camera placement.

2. Motor drive circuitry

Fully functional h-bridge driver-based circuitry for motor operations. There will be two sets of motor driver circuits. Each set comprises the h-bridge and main controller.

3-Voltage measuring unit

The line voltage measuring unit will be the next deliverable. The voltage sensor will be able to measure the line voltage and send its values to the microcontroller.

4-Current measuring unit

A fully functional line current measuring unit will be available for measuring the current passing through the line.

5-Ultrasonic sensor module for checking the line condition.

This module will be responsible for checking the shielding of the transmission line.

6-Rust detection controller using Computer Vision and Raspberry PI.

This module will be a complete setup comprising of Raspberry PI and the camera unit. The controller will be loaded with the neural netwrok trained model and camera will be capturing the image. The model will be able to detect if the captured image has rust or not.

7.Remote end using IoT.

Fully customized Remote end based on Thingspeak  Internet of Things platform will be available for the remote controlling and monitoring of the robot.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Energy

Other Industries

Transportation

Core Technology

Artificial Intelligence(AI)

Other Technologies

Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics

Sustainable Development Goals

Affordable and Clean Energy

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com